For Sale: Wild horses for $25 each

Imagine this? Right now you can purchase a part of this nation’s wild heritage and a national treasure for as little at $25.00. And you can do it over the internet.

From January through March 2008, the Bureau of Land Management are running a “special,” auctioning off wild mares and their weanlings, the mares for $25 and the weanlings for $75, Or as they so blithely put it, that’s $50 apiece if you get one of each.

Wait. Don’t they belong to us in the first place?

Yes, the BLM are still conducting helicopter roundups. Their intention, to zero out our herds of wild mustangs and burros. There are reportedly more wild horses and burros in BLM holding pens than there are out on our public lands.

With so many horses already looking for homes because of rampant overbreeding by such organizations as the American Quarter Horse Association, the price of hay because of drought and the escalating cost of fuel causing horse owners to look for new homes for the ones they have, even at those prices they are unlikely to have many takers.

Re-reading the July 2007 Minutes from the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board and this caught my eye.

Don’t know if I have sent it around before but if so, it is still worth “refreshing our memories” about. “Don” is Don Glen, Division Chief WH&Bs and top of the WH&B Program food chain – minus BLM Director or the Secretary of the Interior.

“Don asked the Board for any recommendations that could help the holding situation. Possibilities could include Instant Ownership Title where prohibition on sale for slaughter would be accomplished on the Title Transfer Document similar to the Sale animals and Long Term Holding on Public Land. Both of which may require a change in legislation. The Board discussed giving incentives to Permittees to take at least one horse each. The Board developed a work group of Renee Taylor, Gary Zakotnik, and Dr. Boyd Spratling to review options and gather information relating to Permittees and Long Term Holding on Public Lands. The Board asked the BLM to check to see if there was a solicitor’s opinion regarding putting wild horses back on public lands. The work group will give a report at the next meeting. The Board recommends that language be inserted into the “Report to Congress” that infers that “Congress must fund the Program properly or allow for alternatives.”

The Minutes also indicate that the Board will be submitting a Report to Congress very soon.

She suggests we could assemble our own “report” to Congress and submit it in conjunction with theirs to at least TRY to give “our” representatives a slightly different angle and statistics to counter BLMs tactics with.

Think About It

"Throughout history, whenever there’s been any kind of social movement, it’s because people have been prepared to fight for what they believe in. There are a lot of people standing up for animals right now and they need to, because they need our help.” — Elio Celotto

"Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error". — Benjamin Rush

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Recommended Horse Books

• "Last Chance Mustang — The Story of One Horse, One Horseman, and One Final Shot at Redemption", by Mitchell Bornstein. Buy it now at Amazon »

• "Riding Home — The Power of Horses to Heal", by Tim Hayes (Forward by Robert Redford). Buy it now at Amazon »

• "Saving Baby — How One Woman’s Love for a Racehorse Led to Her Redemption", by Jo Anne Normile and Lawrence Linder. Buy it now at Amazon »